Cruisin' Mt Stromlo with Lauren and Dan on the weekend

Rocky Trail Shimano GP Mt Annan – 4hr Men’s Elite - 1st Place

Packed start

Hamish and I raced the Mt Annan round of the Rocky Trail series last year and finished up in 4th place. One place shy of walking home with a photo of us on a podium and some Belgium beer. We had talked about the race in detail, what we would try and do better given the opportunity and just how much fun racing around the western Sydney botanical gardens can be. So when the entries for the 2014 round at Mt Annan came around, it only took one short message to get Hamish on board. To which he simply replied “I’m down!”

Botanical Garden trail comes with a variety of challenges

The day kicked off with 0430 start and a 2hr 30min drive to the western suburbs of Sydney. When we arrived at Mt Annan just before 8am the atmosphere was already building. Riders and supporters were all buzzing around carting feed stations and getting bikes and gear prepped and ready. The all familiar sounding Martin Wisatawas on the MC duties and sure enough he announced loud and proud in his thick accent that “Sheee Man Ooooo” was the main sponsor. Hamish and I had agreed that I would do the start lap so I was on my bike early to get the stiffness of car travel out of my legs.

Hamish at warp speed

Thanks to Hamish picking up the slack in doing 2 extra laps, we ended up with a great result, but I actually had a shocker when it came to execution of a well laid out plan. Firstly I got a great spot on the front row of the start pack, then I gave it up for the 2nd row when I saw fellow Canberra ride Callum McNamara slotting into the main pack. The gun went off and I found myself on the right side of the fire trail and it was the slow lane. In hindsight I should have known the first 4 corners are left handers so I should have planted myself straight on the left for the sneaky line up the inside. I punched out the first lap, came in somewhere in the Top 10 and sent Hamish off, a smooth transition everything going well. Quick check of the results and we are in top spot by 2mins. We went through the motions, tagging in after about .25mins on each lap, Hamish was feeling good but each lap my legs were starting to scream louder and louder. By my 4th lap I felt like I was losing time fast and told Hamish that I was in strife and for him to think about a double lap. I prepared to go out again but Hamish came in still feeling good and actually stomped out 3 laps in a row to ensure we won by 10mins. So I ended up with 4 laps under my belt and Hamish managed 6 lightening laps only dropping a 1 minute or so between his best and his worst.

Here’s where I think I went wrong:

-          Busted myself a little too hard on the first lap
-          Stood up out of the saddle way too much on the short pinchy climbs
-          Did not drink enough water
-          Did not keep up electrolyte or carb intake to what was required

Hurting

We came away with the win which is fantastic; the other good news is that because Hamish pulled through I was able to learn a bunch of lessons without impacting our result. So at the next team race I will be ready, prepared, and I will have reminders to keep me on track. Hopefully I will be there and ready to pull through for my team mates if required.

Hamish riding like he was being lead by a divine light

Driving home, talking about the crazy dusty, chopped up, technical track and the future of our racing was golden. These racing memories are ones that I will hold dearly forever. Another day racing with my brother (from another mother) Hamish gets locked away in the treasure chest. Let this day be a taste of Belgium beer to come.

2nd place were not happy to be there. We were happy to have put them there

Back on the blog - new beginnings

It’s been nearly 10 months since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve bounced back from my shoulder injury and I’m back to full strength on the race track. It has been a fun year of riding so far with lots of club racing with the odd interstate race thrown in. I’m still riding the trusty Scott Scale 920 with Wolf tooth 1x10, and TLC Cycles in Phillip, ACT are still taking good care of me and ensuring my bike is ready for training and racing. One bike (and two wheelsets) have proved sufficient over the last few years but I feel I need at least one or two more to make the most of the training and racing  opportunities here in Canberra. Firstly the road toad, training on the road is essential for getting the long, consistent efforts fused into the quads. Up until now I have done road kilometres on my mtb. But I’m missing out on many rolling bunch rides that are not only good for increasing power output but they are also great for sharing ideas and talking about training and riding technique. Secondly, in 2015 CORC will be running a gravity downhill series and there are also some great interstate gravity series that are already in place. I need to get on an all mountain weapon, possibly a Scott Genius or similar 120mm+ dual suspension fun machine. Having all the money and shed space in the world I would also go for a Scott Spark 700 (650b), to be used for XC racing on tighter more technical courses.

Beep beep beep, the alarm goes off and I’ve woken from a very nice dream, time to get back to reality and to save some money. For the rest of 2014 I want to keep turning up to as many races as I can and source a road bike from somewhere. After being postponed, the Mont 24hr race is coming up in a few months and our team (Smooth Transition) are all looking strong. Hopefully 2015 will be just as exciting with the possibility of racing some new genres and getting involved in the organising of some local racing events.

I have had a great winter for training, incorporating a Tuesday night indoor spin session to the routine, 5 weeks in a row now but just missed one spin session because I had a sore throat. Man that sounds weak when I type it out. Secondly, either by way of racing or training rides I have been getting regular 3hr+ Sunday sessions. Committing to these two sessions each week has mutated my calves into new shapes and my aerobic levels have lifted. I also try and slot in one or two ‘play’ rides in between for recovery and the misguided psychological therapy that my mates offer me on any given ride. I can still only afford 3-5hrs of training per week.

There is only so much racing  one can take when riding peers are heckling from the timing tent “Wrong grade Roberts” or “Stop sand bagging mate” or simply a misguided rocket  “There goes an A grader!!!”. Actually in thinking about it the only person that has ever heckled me was my friend Trent. But he is a man of honesty who was probably telling me to man up just when I needed it. So a few rounds ago I took the hint, and entered myself into an A grade clubby at a local CORC round at Sparrow Hill. My goal, not to finish last, accomplished 5 laps without my quads exploding, success, and tonnes of fun, done! The result, I came 6th out of 8 riders.  I was asked at a BBQ recently, which grade do I race and I nervously said “At the moment, I race A grade” sheepishly looking around to see if anyone heard. Racing A grade has always been in “The Plan”, but now that it has arrived and I’m more humble then I have ever been. It feels a bit strange and I still feel like I’m entering a world where I don’t quite belong or have arrived before my time. The 2-3min gap between me and the finishing time of the pointy end will take me years of training to close up, but that’s cool, I’m here for the long haul.

In A grade I’ll be learning more and getting more cost/benefit with 5 laps instead of 4. But on the flipside and I have committed to racing national level riders and my only chance of a Top 3 finish will be when 3 or less riders turn up. So the goal for club XCO racing now, to finish off the bottom, to hold some really fast riders for a lap or two, to start strong and finish stronger, but in essence I want it to remain fun and enjoyable. The moment the fun is gone I’m out and going back to Bar Bangin B grade. It is going to take some time for me to feel comfortable racing against the depth of riders that turn up to any given CORC XCO club round.